Beginner Wednesdailies

Well, I was hoping someone more qualified would come along, but I'll start the dailies :-)

I had a rough start to the morning, but it got better when I got to the office early and took some time to catch up on the great posts from yesterday. Today was going to be a bike commute, but I found my front tire with no air and a big sharp stone poked through it so I got out of my bike clothes and drove to the Y for some laps and running. I started swimming laps and my shoulder was sore. The same shoulder that has held me back a lot this year. I don't **think** it is the same pain I've struggled with. This time it seemed more 'muscular' and less 'internal' but it was substantial enough that I kept it to an easy 1000 instead of 2500 and called it active recovery. I thought about doing a tempo run, but based on the morning I was having a hard run seemed like a great way to wind up a member of the boot club so I skipped it :-)

QOTD- People come to me sometimes and ask for help getting started with running. If you were going to give them 1 piece of advice what would it be?

ATTQOTD- I'm a bit unorthodox but I tend to encourage them to try and make it a near daily habit right from the start. I tend to shock them by seriously suggesting at least 5-6 days a week, right from the first week. Then they get relieved when I tell them they aren't allowed to do more than 5 minutes that first week...and when they feel up to it the second week they can start pushing it to 10 minutes, but no more. Ideally, they would spend the entire first month doing at most 10 minutes a day. The idea is to make it a habit first and then start worrying about pushing second. I try to equate it with 'taking a shower' or 'brushing your teeth'. When the habit becomes so ingrained that you would only skip 5-10 minutes of getting your HR up when you were in so much of a hurry that you would skip a shower before work then the habit is set and we can start worrying about building fitness. I've been happy to see this approach work with several people and I've been pleased when they all tell me a couple weeks in how they have already started to feel better.

Yesterdailies...

Mark- That turned out to be an awesome QOTD yesterday. Thank you.

Spider- Does the dentist count as endurance cross training?

JOLVM- It is VERY smart of you to shut it down. I hope some rest gets you back on track. We all seem too slow to take rest and too slow to see a doctor when something is really wrong.

JOLVM2- Thanks for the compliments. I'm very proud of how far my swimming has come because it has taken a lot of effort over a very long time. The 20k last week was equal to 1/4 my 2013 swim yards and 1/8 of my 2014 yards so far.

iRunalot- I'm totally in line with your perspective of a 70.3. I've come to think of these races as really good bike/run races that require entry fees to be paid in $$$ and swim time.

iRunalot2- Congrats on the run miles and smart to split them up.

iRunalot3- I've seen overland park show up before. While it is not the actual geographic center of the US, I think some of the maps/garmin treat it as it is and display it when they think there is a map but don't have the lat/long to display your actual location.

Iowa- I thought a lot about your ATTQOTD yesterday. At first I was extremely annoyed by the other poster...but then the more I thought about it, I felt sorry for them. They seem like someone with issues that likely fits the mold of jumping from one fix to another without ever finding a way to stay healthy in the long run. Paleo seems to be a perfectly fine diet to me but when people make statements like, 'starches and sugars have virtually NO legitimate nutritional value or function' it seems to indicate a 'gotcha' kind of conspiratorial perspective of, 'aha, that's it...**they've** been doing this to me, it isn't my fault and now that I've caught them life will be better if I just...'. My diet contains plenty of things that have marginal (if any) nutritional value. I guarantee that I could be healthier if I ate less processed foods and sugars, but eating more 'paleo' isn't a panacea any more than running all of the time is. If someone professes to know THE singular answer to health then they haven't found it yet. There isn't one answer, there are many and we are all just trying to find our own balance.

Iowa2- I'm sorry to hear about the leg.

JBC- Have you seen this site? http://www.swimsmooth.com/ I love their content. They have one of the few 'newsletters' that I get excited to see in my inbox. I've learned so much from them.

JBC2- Nice response to the QOTD. What was the hostile person's response? Silence?

DrBart- I love the 1 arm sets...especially without a kickboard. I look like I'm drowning, but I always learn something. Fist swimming is another favorite, with a pull buoy just swim with your hands closed tight. I expect to start working a lot of drills in over the winter.

jamag- Good luck with the start of a program. Which race are you doing in December?

Morning. I am off to spin. I had to talk myself out of the run, spin, run combo that was so successful yesterday. That was the most miles I have done, 3.5 total. Doing that 2 days in a row right off the bat doesn't see prudent. Honor the injury. There's always tomorrow to run a little more.

I'll go with every other day this first week, low miles, see how that feels and go from there.

I was thinking maybe I should try a plan of some sort. I want to be at 26.2 miles by 9/28, Berlin. What should my longest run be? When should I do it? I don't think I will have any type of speed, I'm supremely doubtful I will be able to build speed, so my goal is just to build up to jogging 26.2 miles by that date. I'm more than ready to run/walk it too as that will be the most likely scenario.

QOTD - I have been talking DD into running, it was her idea but she backed off quickly. She needs to get in shape for marching band for the fall. I am telling her "just one mile" because I think that sounds so slight. It seems to be a lot for her though, maybe I'm a little jaded

Couch2B - Don't ever become a member of the boot club, it sucks! So hard to come back slowly after an injury. So much better to avoid one, though obviously they can't all be avoided.

I have a 15 MLR today. It's warm and muggy which is fine. We have had a cooler summer on average and I think of the heat as one of the beneficial parts of summer training. Would like to swim at Walden but DS has baseball game. I may weave it in as part of the ride to the western suburb he's playing.

C2B, hoping that shoulder calms down. I had an issue some years ago which was precipitated by my stupidly throwing a baseball too hard at a sports museum in Pittsburgh. I had not thrown a baseball since highschool and thought I'd impress my in laws. I ended up with a messed up shoulder and I barely made it to 60MPH. I came out of it with serious respect for what major league pitchers do.

Hope your day improves.

Oh, the person at work (the hostile one) looked perplexed. She's not a bad person but she had been on the "you're so scrawny" thing for weeks and I finally caved and gave it to her.

And thanks for the link..

irunalot, I think you're making a good decision to be cautious. Chip away and you'll get to 26. As a former boot wearer I'm feeling your pain.

QOTD: C2B, that's an interesting plan. I would have never thought to have them do every day but you got me thinking. Maybe, it helps them catch the bug by flooding them early with the habit/routine.

I have told people that there is an early phase which is hard but that it will go away.

I might suggest that they try to run somewhere that is beautiful, or where they might see something new - to try to bring in some exploration etc into it.

gm, bike commute in today. beautiful morning out there. went to the Brewes-Giants game yesterday with DS1 and DS2, and my brother. was a lot of fun. DS1 was asking a lot of questions about the numbers on the scoreboard (the box score and statistics). was fun to explain it all to him. fireworks go off when the Brewers get a home run, so the pic is of them watching that happen.

c2b - you are more than qualified to start the forums! sorry to hear about the shoulder. hopefully just taking it back a notch is all you need. these peak periods of training are like walking a tightrope between being sore vs. hurt.

irun - a plan seems smart. slow and easy miles seem the way to go with very gradual increases. not sure there is a better example of coming back than mark.

ATTQOTD: I follow the same logic as c2b, however, i'm more of the weekly goal type. I still suggest that getting the routine set is key, but I've been around people that if they miss a day or two, they take it as a big failure and they don't come back. so offering some flexibility in helps with that in my opinion. obviously too much flexibility can lead to failure though. so my one piece of advice is to set an attainable weekly goal focusing on time spent running (or run/walk) and not speed. once a solid routine is set, further advice would kick in.

Couch2B - Yup, you are right, Ks is the default setting for Garmin when it doesn't know where it is. Once again today in Spin Garmin decided I was in KS. It's so annoying because it won't let me tell it directly that I am indoors. It should detect that I am indoors, but it seems to find satellites, or it believes it does.

I have been shutting the thing on and off a lot lately.

JOLVM - I don't know what it is with plans but I stick to them. If I don't have a plan I'm more likely to just ramp up fast.

Happy Wednesday all around. I got in 6 last night, will do something like 8 tonight. I am going to return to a local reservoir that is on the way from work to home. I like the loop and the other runners. When I run later in the day like this, it is imperative not to return home -- invariably somebody wants to talk or something, give me a report of their day, get some attention and love, activities that always have a different importance than my running.

Couch - sorry to learn about your shoulder. Do you think it is the rotator cuff? That's one complicated piece of anatomy that is easily sprained. I am totally with you -- always good to cool it off, hold back. Boot club has some amazing members here. I am going to California in December, the home town marathon. I think smoke and multi may also be there.

iRun - thank you for the gracious wisdom: honor the injury. I like that a lot.

jbc - have a good 15. I take it all of your LR are now at MP? How does that feel to sustain? Your response to your coworker gave me a chuckle yesterday, too.

jolvm - thank you for sharing a picture of your boys! The expressions are precious.

ATTQOTD - I would only to prioritize time/distance over speed. DD is starting to run little bits with me. I keep on telling her to slow down.

Good morning. Back at the new home, we got back on Monday evening, much later than expected thanks to a delay at the Toronto airport. First we didn't have a crew to fly the plane (I can only assume it was related to delays from other flights, then we had to wait on a flight plan....???

Legs are a little different each day. No major soreness, but I did wake up with some tightness in my right hip today. Feet are still sore, mainly where I have deep blisters (under the second metatarsal head of each foot with left much worse than the right). I can actually somewhat see my ankle bones today, and a faint outline of the tendons in my feet, so I will take that as a sign that swelling has come down. They do look much less puffy today. Sadly, the horrific edema in my feet has done nothing to discourage mosquitoes from feeding on me. In fact, it is almost as though they prefer my feet (which was often the case even without swelling).

In other news, DH found the gravel track near us I had seen on satellite before we moved here, and located an outdoor pool this a.m. Now, if only we could do something about the mosquitoes, I may be more inclined to go outside.

Couch - sorry about the shoulder. Yeah, sometimes best not to push it on the days where the workout gods are not smiling on you.

spinalot - my garmin connect used to always initially load with the Olathe, Kansas, map, before it woke up and showed me the proper route.

JBC - enjoy the 15. Is it is bit masochistic that I an envious of you running that today? I long for a nice MLR...

JOLVM - cute! Such wonder in those eyes. I can TOTALLY relate to your eating habits and co-workers perception of your diet. I swear, if you want people to think you eat healthy, just have a salad in front of them, haha. I do think it is funny that one co-worker sees your sweet indulgence and has almost an opposite perception of others.

jamag - that takes discipline to stop after work and get your run done before going home. I often need to to do my workout in the morning, because by the end of the day I just want to go home.

From yesterday:

Haze - It always amazes me the dogmatic nature of others out there when it comes to nutrition.

ATTQOTD - I try to stress going easy and dialing into an easy pace, and doing a run/walk combo. Like others, I emphasize time rather than distance. I also tell them to aim for an every other day schedule for the first two to three weeks, but that they can incorporate other things on the days they don't run (like walking, biking, swimming, etc.). Most of all, I tell them they should enjoy it. Obviously not every minute will be enjoyable, but running should be fun, at least initially, otherwise they may have a hard time getting out the door.

iRunalot- I'm continually surprised at how hard 1 mile really is for folks that are not ready for it...even young people. For that first month the most important thing seems to be to do something, anything.

JBC- It amazes me how throwing a baseball hard can hurt so much. It's not like the ball weighs very much, but it sure can be a good way to get hurt. I definitely hit the 'hard' phase when I started running, but as much as possible I try to help others avoid it.

JOLVM- That was a fantastic picture. What a great moment! My should pain today was definitely just a warning sign and not an injury yet. Hopefully it will feel better tomorrow.

jamag- I think today's pain was just muscle stress from the overloading. My issues in the past have most likely been the rotator cuff. I was very close to going to the doc when I found that by cutting my yards per swim way back and then building slowly over weeks I was able to get stronger and avoid the pain. Worst case, I have a trip starting on Saturday that is going to limit my swimming significantly, so as long as I don't do anything too terribly dumb I should be OK. I hope.

CVB- I'm glad to hear you are getting better. Have you started thinking about the next 100 yet or are you in the 'never again' stage?

CVB, looks like you won't be modeling feet on the side (at least this week). They really took a beating. Wishing for you and DH to have a smooth adjustment.

I really am enjoying the training and particularly the mid week MLR. In summer I have no motivation problems ever. Winter,,?? Mmm

JOLVM. cute little guys, remind me when mine were that age. Good news is: they're still cute 12 year olds. Looked like they had a blast.

Jamag,, my long runs have MP miles in them according to what pfitz says. Turns out about every two weeks. This week I have just 21 with no MP miles in them. I generally start these non MP runs slow, and then pick it up the last 3rd of the run.

I was thinking about SMOKE today and wondering where he went. Others too (boston b etc).

Got my 15 in. Felt great with some occasional twinge in the R PF area. Enough to make me obsess. No pain really, just portents. Pretty certain that my runs on vaca down on the Cape led to it. Lot's of rolling hills on dirt/sand roads made my foot have to do more than it has been used to.

Hey peeps. Checking in from vampire land. Got in a slow 6 this morning with the peeps after work, with only a slight breeze making a muggy 75-degree day semi-bearable. Expecting more of the same after I get off work. Unfortunately I don't think dentist visits count as endurance XT, C2B.